Lilia Alvarez of Respect Arizona, with the news that the recall is halfway home

Close to 1,000 people jammed the Painter's Union Hall in Phoenix Thursday to hear the news that the recall of Sheriff Joe Arpaio so far has scored more than half the signatures required to force a recall election on the octogenarian despot.

Part rally, part seminar, the meeting was organized by the Arpaio recall group Respect Arizona, which, earlier in the day, announced that it had "less than 200,000" signatures left to gather by the May 30 deadline.

During the meeting, Respect Arizona's campaign manager Lilia Alvarez told attendees that the group now had 169,283 signatures in the bank, with 166,034 remaining to collect in the next 55 days.

Some of the 1,000 or so who showed up for the recall Arpaio event

She later confirmed to me that those 169,283 signatures were verified as being from qualified Maricopa County electors. She estimated that the group had collected a gross of about 20 percent more than that.

The task before Respect Arizona is doable but daunting. In the remaining 55 days, volunteer signature-gatherers will have to acquire about 3,020 signatures per day.

As intimidating a number as that may seem, if each person present in the union hall tonight were to get three to five valid signatures a day, Respect Arizona could turn in 335,317 valid signatures to county elections by the cut-off date.

Randy Parraz, president of Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group that recalled former state Senate President Russell Pearce, pumped up the crowd, telling them that it takes only 25 seconds on average to sign a petition.

"Twenty-five seconds for justice. Can we make that happen in Maricopa County?" asked Parraz.

The crowd responded with a roar. Parraz barreled on, as if leading a revival meeting.

"No one's going to come and do it for you. No one's going to deliver justice for you," preached Parraz. "If you all don't embrace this campaign, we lose."

Present were students who had worked on Paul Penzone's campaign for sheriff, organizers from Promise Arizona and Living United for Change in Arizona, veterans of the Pearce recall, and members of the Progressive Democrats of America.

A number of elected officials and candidates for office also were on hand, including Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, state Senator Steve Gallardo, Arizona House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, Phoenix city council candidates David Lujan and Lawrence Robinson, and state Representative Andrew Sherwood.

There also were a smattering of haters who showed up to protest the meeting, but they had decamped by the time I arrived.

Recall supporter Carolyn Cooper told me that one of the pro-Joe losers, some grizzled biker dude strapped with a pistol, tried to gain entry, posing as a pro-recall guy.

Cooper told him his gun wasn't welcome. He advised her that open carry was legal in Arizona. She advised him that he was on private property.

So the hillbilly got back on his bike and headed out.

Now if only Arpaio would exit stage left, he'd save us the trouble of recalling him.

Out of those 169,000 signatures you say you have, at least half of them, maybe more, will obviously and without a doubt be discovered INVALID! Funny how dead people can rise from the grave to sign your petition as well as other people who are not authorized to vote. You think that just because you take each petition full of signatures to a Notary to get them stamped means that each signature is legitimate? You better think again! That's like the fox guarding the henhouse. Did the Notary certify themselves each signature as valid or did you just tell them that? Trust me, I know firsthand that you are trying to get away with voter fraud and you will be discovered because each and every signature you get will be verified. And most importantly because your signed petitions are public information, they will be made available to me (as well as other people doing signature verifications) which just might end up on one of my websites like I told you before. I'm out to expose your lies and deceit at any cost so if you don't like it, too damn bad - DEAL WITH IT!!!!!

tip, always have voter registration forms with you. Board city buses, stand up and call for signatures. The poor know who he is...you can get a lot of signatures this way, but having the voter registration forms is equally as important. Also in the line ups at the warrant offices, traffic ticket lines, courthouse cafeteria.

Solidarity in California! There was never such a fascist in power who violates as many human rights laws as Arpaio. He has blood on his hands and recalling him is the least of what should happen. I posted this on my Facebook page and asked my 3,000 friends to do the same. Be sure that everyone who signs writes legibly and is a currently registered voter. Change the addresses too. You will need 30% over the mark. Good job citizens!

Sorry folks....but Sheriff Joe is going to STAY Sheriff Joe Arpaio. You can play all your fun games...running around getting your little pieces of paper signed and all that. But Joe IS going to win out again. But at least you can sit around the campfire and brag about how back in the day you tried to remove a sheriff from office. Bahahahahaha! You smell that Arizona? Do you smell that? Victory, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of Victory in the morning!

JoeArpaioFan, I just want to thank you for all your trolling on this website. It used to be that when I wanted to laugh at a delusional freak, I would go to SA and read and chuckle, but that place is a ghost town now. You are the only delusional freak that is easy to find.

Gosh, ONLY 166,034 remaining to collect in the next 55 days...ONLY about 3,020 signatures per day! Fat chance of that happening folks. And, if by chance a miracle happens and you get the signatures, then you have to figure out how in the world your going to get loyal Patrotic Americans to vote against Sheriff Joe. Just not going to happen folks, just not going to happen. Do have to give you credit for the hard work your putting in. I bet your employer would be very happy if you would work that hard at your actual job....for those of you that actually have jobs. The majority of the people want Joe.....always have...always will. So go ahead and play your little political games and think your actually doing something. In the end, you will again be a loser. Well, at least your good at that!

I think that the DRAMA QUEEN should be declared NOT FIT to carry His duties as a SHURF anymore, and also, since it seems that He hasn't show up for work, therefore He should be taken out of affice as of TODAY. I say, JAFFY should be the next SHURF, since it looks like He knows how MCSO works, and seems to be aware of all the "Nuts and bolts"on that broken machinery.

Anyone who believes there
was anywhere close to 1000 people at this meeting, I have some igloos in Sedona
for sale. I wonder if the difficulty in obtaining signatures has anything to do
with the desire to drag this thing out well past November? Why turn the
signatures in on a deadline that would force a runoff in November when you can
keep the cash/salaries coming in for nearly another year? It’s truly sad that
there are so many well intentioned but incredibly gullible people in this
County.

I wouldn't boast 'valid' just yet because once every one of the signatures gathered is verified, more than half will be declared invalid. Do you really want us to believe that every signature you get is legitimate? If you don't see anything wrong with identity theft, you certainly could care less about perjury. You're like the fox guarding the henhouse. And I'm here to expose the truth.

@rightor1 I was approached at the DMV by one of their canvassers who asked me to sign the petition. Although I knew what it was all about I acted naive. I told the woman that I am not a registered voter and you know what she told me? She assured me that was okay and all they neded was my signature. I again told her I am not registered to vote in Maricopa County and she again quickly tried to get me to sign. She said her name is Cynthia. Finally when I told her that I couldn't sign and was in a hurry she then ignored me but I overherard her later asking other people to sign... even a black kid who appeared to be no more than 15 years old who was with his mother I assume.

You see, they are getting desperate and will accept Mickey Mouse's signature if they could but their fraud will be discovered because I've been in contact with the proper authorities to inform thm of what I have discovered.

You DO know Sheriff Joe is from Springfield, MA right? Massachusetts is the home of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and the start of the Revolutionary War. But Massachusetts is considered too liberal for you. BTW, 335k people signing the petition are people, Republicans included, who just 5 months ago put Joe back in office.

@TaxpayingVoter If you're within reasonable distance of me (Tempe/Chandler/Ahwatukee), I'll come to you! I can leave you a petition to fill up with neighbors/friends/etc., I can notarize your completed petitions. I'm volunteering because I was at the rally yesterday and am fired up, so be patient. E-mail me from this link: http://bit.ly/14UjhHq

@CashRecallBiz "I wonder if the difficulty in obtaining signatures has anything to do with the desire to drag this thing out well past November? Why turn the signatures in on a deadline that would force a runoff in November when you can keep the cash/salaries coming in for nearly another year?"

Man, you teabaggers are dumb. They have 120 days from the day they start to get the signatures. That's in state statute. The May 30 deadline is because they started January 30.

@JoeArpaioFan lol fox guarding the hen house? you mean like pro arpaio people trying to influence the sec of state to let THEM validate the signatures? (as if their bias wouldnt play a role no less lol)..yeah, i know all about it..dont worry, ill be exposing your real identity soon, and then you wont be able to hide behind the million fake profiles you use while talking shit and punking out when you challenge people...

@JoeArpaioFan You're a dumbass. The sigs will be vetted by county elections. And there's not much you can put by Karen Osborne. If they get them, Arpaio will be forced to run again. And his campaign manager Chad Willems says he will lose.

@JoeArpaioFan@rightor1 You are quite wrong. I am a scholar and I see Arpaio violating state and federal laws far worse than most inmates have committed. By your language I can see that you are perhaps incapable of seeing that no one should be above the law, least of all a public official.

@wherewasi@TeaPublican Do you verify the person's ID and make sure they are a registered voter in Maricopa County? I'd sure like to run into you because I'd shove your little piece of paper up your ass.

@wherewasi@TeaPublican but your going to the same places and talking to the same people everytime....you know they can only sign it once? Your running out of friends and relatives...and your going to run out of time.

@MaskedMagician1967 Yup, it was JUST 5 months ago the good people of Arizona put Sheriff Joe back in office. And they will again. Go ahead...dream all you want....but this IS going to turn out a nightmare for all of you!

I have your Tea Bag
hanging!! No wonder you get lead around by the nose so easily. Go back to your
paid posting and rave about the fake 1000 people that was at the event, as if
it was a secret meeting and nobody actually knows the real numbers. I don't
know what is more fake, this cash recall or people like you who actually claim
to know what you are doing. Joe Arpaio is the scum of the earth which is
actually the equivalent of people who try and exploit the misery he has caused
to make a living off of stupidity and naivety of the hoards that follow along with
any gimmick that comes down the road. Now go back to pretending you are
recalling someone and don’t forget to bring along your wallet.

@MotherJones @JoeArpaioFan You better think again. You are just hoping that the voter fraud won't be discovered but it already has been. Did you really think that the signatures you get won't be verified? It has been known all along that your campaign is solely based voter fraud because why would voters, after just reelecting him, take your lies for granted and change their mind to recall him? It makes no sense whatsoever. You really are a dumb bitch! Nothing negative you bring up about Arpaio now is anything new since his reelection. Truth is you are all simply sore losers but he won fair and square and there will be no recall. I'm going to find out your identity through Freedom of Information requests and plaster your identity all over the internet.

@wherewasi Huh? You think that if you don't care about identity theft you'd care about perjury? You encourage it! Your word cannot be trusted because you are desperate for signatures and you don't care who signs even if they have already signed before.

@TeaPublican - duh, moron. Of course the people who are collecting signatures know to inquire of the signer whether they are registered to vote in Maricopa County and that they have not signed the petition previously. Instructions ARE included, you know...

You never know where you're going to run into someone who wants to sign the petition. I was at the grocery store last weekend and two guys were looking at steaks and talking about Arpaio and his broken bone. One said he'd sign the petition in a heart beat if someone would ring his bell and ask him to. I pulled my petition out of my purse and said "ding dong - Petition calling".

@CashRecallBiz.. I was talking to the pimp, not to the PROSTITUTES, who the fuck are U, Jaffy's asssucker? I didn't know that the fagg needed a prostitute to defend His ass, an a deluded one to makes it worse. U are well indoctrinated in the FOOL's ways, where if He does it, than U assume that everybody else does it, If U say that Mr. Randy "is laughing all the way to the bank" is because U folowed Him, thus making U the one following the pied piper.iT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH FOR A FOOL TO BE NOTICED. WHAT A MORON U'R. NOW GO AND DRINK UR TEA.

Blah, Blah, Blah..Same mindless shit that was being posted day after day as the Bots were greasing Randys pockets and claiming victory for Paul Penzone. Fools never learn, Bots never think (Or they wouldn't be Bots) Just keep slaving away and following your pied piper as he laughs all the way to the bank. It actually doesn't take much for a fool to feel worthwhile. Sad, very sad!

@JoseArpaioFarts, better known as Jaffy, U are the most STUPID FUCK....what voter fraud are U talking about?, do you have any proof of it? otherwise U are just talking shit as always; just because UR 'PAPY" the DRAMA QUEEN might resort to voter fraud - and probably vote buying- in order to win, doesn't mean that someone else does it. The DRAMA QUEEN is gonna be RECALLED, unless DEATH itself RECALL Him first, since it seems that He is not gonna make it out of that "Stroke" convalescency, but hopefully Death waits untill after the recall to give the TRUE VOTERS the satisfaction of seeing Him out of Office, then PERP WALKED straight to PRISON where The OLD FOOL belongs, and Urself along, due to U inciting to violence, spreading posible false info and threatening to post personal info on the internet, which all of these is beign well documented by the proper agency, where probably U R deemed as a DOMESTIC TERRORIST. GOOD LUCK STUPID FUCK...wait.....I think the Old Fool is calling U for a diaper change.